How To: Winged Liner Tutorial

Besides contouring, winged eyeliner is my favorite makeup technique. My boyfriend refers to them as my "angel wings", which I think is so cute! Haha! I rock it almost everyday and when I don't, I actually feel naked! I love the way it elongates my eyes and makes them look bigger than they actually are! I've struggled over the years to find the right products for me and a technique that works every time, because believe it or not- there's tons of different ways you can do winged liner. It really depends on your eye shape, how dramatic you want it to be, and what type of product you like to use (liquid, pencil, cake liner, or gel).

I decided to show you all how I do mine since after years of practice, I've finally got it down the way I like it! I have small, hooded eyes, so I like using a very thin, precise eyeliner brush like the NYX Eyeliner brush with my favorite gel liner which is Essence Gel Eyeliner in Midnight in Paris. I love it because it's super black, long-lasting, and water resistant! (Review coming soon)


(These steps are not photographed)
First, I started out by priming my eyes with an eyeshadow base. I used a MAC Paint Pot in Painterly, as always. I applied a matte white eyeshadow on the lid (Inglot Matte 318), then I applied a muted purple-ish brown through the crease (MAC Quarry or Urban Decay Tease), then I applied a brow highlight (Urban Decay Foxy) and then applied a shimmy pinky-nude shade over top of the lid color (Urban Decay Bootycall). Now you're ready for liner!

 

Step 1: I start in the middle of my eyelid and use small backwards trokes along my lashline until I get to the outer corner. Then I go to the inner corner of my eye and connect the line to the middle. This lines my upper lashline. I make sure to start off as thin as I can, so my lid space is still visible.

Step 2: I close my eye halfway, touch the brush to the outer corner of my eyelid, and draw a thin straight line. To determine the angle to draw the line, either pretend your extending the line from your lower lashline OR draw the line as if you were going to connect it to the end of your eyebrow. Where you end your line depends on your personal preference. The longer the wing, the more dramatic and vise versa. I like mine to go about halfway up to the end of my brow. Make sure the tip is nice and sharp. If you made it too thick, use a Q-tip soaked in makeup remover or baby oil as an eraser.

Step 3: Now that you have the line extended from your outer corner, put the tip of the brush in the middle of that line. That's going to be your starting point. Tilt your brush so that the tip is facing the wing, and draw on an angle down to the line across your upper lashline. Like this: (follow the dotted lines)

Step 4: Go back over your lashline to smooth out any bumps you may have to that everything is one seamless smooth line.

Step 5: If you'd like, line your waterline or lower lashline with your favorite eyeliner pencil (I'll either use white or black). You can also tight line as well, if you like.

Step 6: Add mascara and voila! You're done :) If you'd like to see my current favorite mascara routine, click here.

I hope that helped all of you who struggle with doing winged liner. It definitely takes practice, in fact, it took years for me to get it to turn out this way. Winged liner is something that requires patience as well as practice. I know for me, if I'm in a rush, this is a no-go. 

Also, let me know if you all would like me to do more picture tutorials like this. I definitely want to do an eyebrow tutorial next, but if you have any requests, please let me know in the comments below!